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The Feral Goat wrote:Bit of a non-story for me, we have no idea of the context of the night out the timing of events etc he could have had the shoulder niggle so was not going to be selected so allowed a night out. Was it a squad/club night out, did he trip and fall but was not drunk. Dont see how it impacts his ability to captain the team when on the pitch. Waste of column inches for me.
The Nudger wrote:Couldn't agree less with the two posts above. I was absolutely livid to read about this this morning. At the very least Bradbury must be stripped of the captaincy (not that he seemed to be making a particularly god fist of it) and if it weren't for the fact that as a country/club we can't afford to lose players of his caliber I'd sack him to make an example of him and send the message that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated. This might seem harsh given that the details remain unknown at this stage but unfortunately it's all too believable.
There has been much talk on this forum and elsewhere about the long term cultural problems within Edinburgh rugby and I personally feel that a culture or at least tolerance of heavy boozing is a part of this. Going back many years, a good friend of mine was the manager of an up-town bar and two long-serving Edinburgh international forwards used to come in on a Thursday night before games and order a bottle of wine EACH! He always said that the most galling thing was that as he slammed their bottles of wine down on the table with the words 'Play well tomorrow boys, yeah' they didn't even have the decency to look slightly embarrassed. A couple of years ago I was working as mini-cab driver and picked up a couple of Academy boys from Murrayfield after a pre-season event and they were paralitic. I mean seriously, unable to speak, drooling messes. Needless to say neither of them made it as pros but I was shocked that they would get into such a state at a team event. A few weeks ago a couple of student rugby players who come into the pub where I now work told me that they'd ended up on a night out with one of Edinburgh's young 'stars' through a mutual friend and they described him as a 'f***ing maniac on the bevvy'. I'm not puritanical about booze, I like getting messed up as much as the next person but I'm not a 'professional' rugby player!
I suspect Cockerill is aware of this given some comments he has made about professional culture extending beyond what you do on the playing/training pitch and being about your overall lifestyle. I'm sick and tired of young Scottish players who think that they've made it because they've got a contract. Getting paid doesn't make you a professional - being a professional is about your entire lifestyle and maximising your ability at every turn. I'm also fed up of handing over my hard earned cash to watch Edinburgh when the money ends up in the pockets of entitled, self satisfied wee ChristopheBerdos so they can quite literally TonySpreadbury it up against a wall.
Okay, rant almost over. In conclusion, I hope Edinburgh throw the book at Bradbury and use this moment to establish some ground rules and some minimum standards of acceptable behavior that have to be adhered to if players want to have the privilege (and it is a privilege) of being paid to play the game and to represent our club.
Friday Knight Lights wrote:I kind of agree with the Nudger, but I wouldn't sack him for this - stripped of the captaincy though certainly. The stories sound all too believable.
Considering Bradbury has been suspended by the club I doubt he fell over. He's definitely been up to something otherwise there's no need to suspend him.
The Thistle Rugby Pod who clearly know people in the Edinburgh team have mentioned several times how much Bradbury and du Preez love a beer.
Toonie banned drinking at Glasgow, I don't think that's the correct approach in all cases but if Cockers did the same for a season to ramp up the professionalism I would not be too disappointed.
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